The Duggars'' Announce baby #19....

[Italiahaircolor]

I know some of us watch this show...I''ve never been sucked in...but I figured we could maybe chat about when to much of a good thing is just, well, too much....

 

[April20]

I saw this on the Today show this morning. She had to have gotten pregnant when the one she just had was 6 months old. I got to wondering if she just gets pregnant every time she ovulates. That''s what it seems like.

While I assume they aren''t continuing to have kids for the sake of their TV show and changing the name of it, but I really have to wonder when enough is enough. I''ve read some info on their beliefs and why they are doing things the way they are, but can''t say that I think it''s logical. She''s obviously VERY fertile and the evil part of me wonders if they keep having kids because it''s their claim to fame. Honestly, I really don''t think that''s the case, but the evil, nay-sayer in me thinks that way.

I don''t watch the show on a regular basis and don''t know that I could. The show is a form of birth control for me. Having that number of children terrifies me.

 

[MagsyMay]

Wow. I agree, enough is enough. Although they do all seem like very well-behaved and well-adjusted children, I just cannot imagine how the parents have time to truly get to know each child and give each the attention he or she deserves!

And at some point, they are going to run out of names that begin with "J!"

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Date: 9/1/2009 10:10:30 PM
Author: April20
I saw this on the Today show this morning. She had to have gotten pregnant when the one she just had was 6 months old. I got to wondering if she just gets pregnant every time she ovulates. That''s what it seems like.

While I assume they aren''t continuing to have kids for the sake of their TV show and changing the name of it, but I really have to wonder when enough is enough. I''ve read some info on their beliefs and why they are doing things the way they are, but can''t say that I think it''s logical. She''s obviously VERY fertile and the evil part of me wonders if they keep having kids because it''s their claim to fame. Honestly, I really don''t think that''s the case, but the evil, nay-sayer in me thinks that way.

I don''t watch the show on a regular basis and don''t know that I could. The show is a form of birth control for me. Having that number of children terrifies me.

I totally get what you''re saying.

I understand the faith aspect of having multiple children, using no artifical method to curtail having a baby. Okay, okay. But, when do you say "enough"? Is there ever enough? Prehaps when your children start having children of their own? At what point does having more children become selfish to the child, and do more harm than good?

 

[HollyS]

I don''t understand the impetus to just keep hatching little chicks, but I have to say that this family is quite normal and well adjusted in most aspects. Seems a bit too assembly line for my tastes - - whether you''re talking popping out kids, cooking, laundry, cleaning, feeding the brood, or whatever. I can respect their abilities to have a pretty good handle on things, even if I would not choose this life. God bless them. They need it.

 

[iluvcarats]

This was actually covered ad nauseam when they announced their 18th.

Duggars
Just FYI

 

[ckrickett]

I''m not going to say what I really want to say.
BUT, congrats to them.

 

[VRBeauty]

sorry. nevermind.

 

[cara]

Its a faith-based belief system, nothing says it has to be logical

. Read up on the Quiverfull movement, it says that children are a blessing from God, and should be eagerly received. Always. As well, God will decide when it's the right time for more children and will only give them when its the right time and for humans to take any action to prevent/reduce the likelihood of conception would be to thwart God's wishes.

That's the part I have a problem with - turning off the human brain and procreating madly without allowing for any human judgment. Sometimes people do get cancer, lose their jobs and have financial difficulty, have health conditions that make pregnancy both possible and dangerous. Humans do have brains and are not bunnies - why should we reproduce blindly without regard to our abilities and situations? Some parents are not up to raising all the kids they are capable of producing, and some kids need more care and attention and resources than 1/19th of whatever is available in a given family. Are those families just supposed to blindly have more kids than they can care for/sacrifice the health and life of the mother?

Duggars seem to be doing a decent job raising their brood, but what about Quiverfull families that are less talented and less televised? Welfare? Neglect for the umpteenth child? What about Quiverful women and girls that yearn for some life besides mother and wife (subordinate to husband)? What about the simple math, if this philosophy were to be more widespread - those birth rates would yield massive rapid population growth when combined with modern medicine.

To the Duggars, I say congratulations on your 19th blessing. But I also sincerely hope that their offspring and religious beliefs are not so prolific.

 

[Kaleigh]

I admire them , but there is a lot I don''t agree with. But wish them all the best with #19. It''s not for any of us to judge, they have their own belief system, and for that I will say god speed to them.

 

[TravelingGal]

I worship this woman. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and still manage to have sex. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and WANT to have sex.

They should be called the Diggers because they sure breed like rabbits.

 

[MagsyMay]

Date: 9/1/2009 11:32:14 PM
Author: TravelingGal


They should be called the Diggers because they sure breed like rabbits.

LOL! Isn''t that the truth!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/1/2009 11:32:14 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I worship this woman. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and still manage to have sex. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and WANT to have sex.

You know, I''d have RUN AWAY from home way before getting to baby number 19. Leave the kids to my DH and the maid (or whatever - not sure if they have one to help or instead make their older kids do all the work!)

 

[Miranda]

I am in awe of her uterus!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 9/1/2009 11:32:14 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I worship this woman. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and still manage to have sex. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and WANT to have sex.

They should be called the Diggers because they sure breed like rabbits.

Classic TGal, love it!!!!

I don''t know how she does it either. I would be way too tired.

 

[boredstiff]

While this is the applause emoticon, I think it applies equally to Ms. Duggar.

 

[february2003bride]

Date: 9/1/2009 11:32:14 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I worship this woman. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and still manage to have sex. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and WANT to have sex.

They should be called the Diggers because they sure breed like rabbits.

LOLOL!! Tgal- thank you so much for making me laugh!!!

 

[crown1]

i have one child, but i feel the same about this, as some on here have expressed about their lifestyle and spending habits: it is their right to do as they choose as long as they can afford and manage their own affairs. in my opinion the same rules apply for all.

 

[phoenixgirl]

My sense of personal responsibility as one inhabitant on this crowded piece of rock would never allow me to reproduce at that rate.

The people I really admire are those that create a giant family through the adoption of unwanted children.

They do *seem* to be grounded enough that the fame isn''t affecting their family (cough, Jon and Kate Plus Eight). I hope that never changes. They seem like nice people; I just don''t respect their lifestyle.

Surely the odds are that at least one of those kids is going to wind up as a rebel/black sheep, right?

 

[atroop711]

I have to give it to her and her husband. They are raising so many children and are able to handle all of this without running away

lol

I have 3 kids and I know at times I let the sibling arguing get the better of me. When I've seen the show she seems always so calm, tone is always so kind...she is so not like anyone I know.

She has the patience of an angel from what I can see....me?? not so much

As for their announcement...I say god bless...if anyone can handle another...it's the duggers

 

[vespergirl]

Honestly, I feel really bad for the kids in that family. None of them can possible get enough parental attention, and the older ones are like indentured servants, having to act as caretakers for the dozen younger siblings.

The grossest part of the story for me is the fact that the oldest Duggar child is 21 and married, and his wife is expecting their first child this fall. That means that their grandchild will be 5 months older than it''s own aunt or uncle. I''m pregnant now, and I would be totally grossed out if my mother announced that she was also pregnant.

But, whatever, this is America, so as long as I don''t have to pay their bills, more power to them.

 

[Black Jade]

The family chooses to have children and I haven''t heard anybody say anything that implies that they take poor care of their children or abuse them. (FYI--having to take care of younger sibling and do some chores is actually,or should be, ''normal'' and as for the children not receiving enough attention, how do you know that? I know ''families'' where there is ONE child and with two parents each working 14 or 15 hour days that one child can get no parental attention. Yet I hear little judgment about that).

They also are not on public support of any kind.

It''s really obnoxious to make the equation that often hear made that people with whatever you consider to be''too many children'' must, by definition, be on public support. I know of no evidence that supports this viewpoint.

Therefore, I feel their reproductive choices are none of my business.

We aren''t in China or Soviet Russia yet where the state decides how many children women can have, with forced abortion taking place when you go over that number (in the case of China), and forces mothers out to work as soon as the child is born, while putting the child in a state-run daycare where the children are not ware-housed but propagandized from birth to be good little communists (a process that might be interfered with, if the mothers were allowed to raise their children at home and educate them with ideas that go against the state-run propaganda).
All the while saying what an advancement this is over the bad old days when people had freedom to make their own choices and raise their own families.

Of course, we ARE being told all the time by the educational system and the media that having children (definitely having TOO MANY children,which means more than 2--in some places it means more than 1) keeps women from reaching ''their full potential'' and that there is a population explosion that is about to happen. When there is actually a birth dearth in most countries--and even China has been in the news recently because officials are going around quietly now asking women to please have a second child. But we couldn''t possibly be being influenced by that to be judgmental about the women that go against the grain, could we? Because we all think for ourselves, don''t we? (Although, somehow, mysteriously we still somehow always think like all the other people we know-- you know, the educated, superior ones, anyway).

 

[VRBeauty]

Date: 9/2/2009 10:11:12 AM
Author: Black Jade

Therefore, I feel their reproductive choices are none of my business.

I agree, their reproductive choices are none of our business.

That doesn''t mean I have to like or agree with them, or that I can''t have an opinion about them.

 

[janinegirly]

Date: 9/1/2009 11:32:14 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I worship this woman. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and still manage to have sex. I want to know how one can have 18 kids and WANT to have sex.

They should be called the Diggers because they sure breed like rabbits.

ditto. It''s almost like they enjoy trumping the rest of us!

 

[Haven]

I have a lot more respect for the Duggars as parents than I do many of the parents I''ve met who have only two children and either neglect them to work 14 hours a day to pay for their over-the-top bigger-better-faster lifestyle, or those who want to be their kids'' best friends and allow the children to run wild.

 

[princesss]

Date: 9/2/2009 10:39:26 AM
Author: Haven
I have a lot more respect for the Duggars as parents than I do many of the parents I''ve met who have only two children and either neglect them to work 14 hours a day to pay for their over-the-top bigger-better-faster lifestyle, or those who want to be their kids'' best friends and allow the children to run wild.

+1. They have their values as a family, and they raise their kids in accordance with those values. Do I agree with their values? Not really. Would I raise my (hypothetical) kids that way? Nope. But they''re making a living, raising their kids, and they all seem happy.

So yeah, I think it''s a little kooky to have that many kids. And, like TGal, I''d probably run away at the thought of sex after around, oh I don''t know....kid 4 or 5. But they like it, and it''s what works for them. Good on them for living life the way they want to.

 

[Lilac]

I could never imagine having that many children, but as long as they aren''t abusing or neglecting them, who am I to say they should stop? I would never do it myself though...

I had a friend in elementary school who had 15 siblings and her oldest sister and mother were pregnant at the same time (twice I think). She never seemed to feel neglected at home and she became very responsible because she was always around younger siblings and she helped out at home a lot. She actually just got married herself and I wonder if her parents had any more kids in the last few years since we lost touch...

My grandparents had a neighbor across the street that had 22 children. I''m not sure how they handled it, but somehow they managed.

Like I said, I could never do that myself though... I don''t think I could handle it mentally or physically.

 

[cellososweet]

I''m pretty sure they aren''t doing it for fame. They already had 17 kids when the show started.

I have a lot of respect for them because all of the kids seem so well-behaved and the parents are in control of their household and don''t let the kids run it, which I see a lot of these days. It''s sad that there is so much bad press on them even though I guess that''s what you get when you''re on reality tv.

But really though, they seem genuinely happy and she seems like the sweetest woman and happy in her decision to live her life the way she sees fit.

 

[Laila619]

I personally think it's irresponsible to have that many kids, what with the world the way it is today. But whatever.

You know they are not going to be able to pay for a college education for all of them.

I would be grossed out if I were pregnant at the same time as my mother-in-law. Poor Anna Duggar.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/2/2009 12:28:20 PM
Author: Laila619
I personally think it''s irresponsible to have that many kids, what with the world the way it is today. But whatever.

You know they are not going to be able to pay for a college education for all of them.

I would be grossed out if I were pregnant at the same time as my mother-in-law. Poor Anna Duggar.

It is irresponsible to have that many kids and we have EVERY right to judge because the family has made it a point to tell EVERYONE about it. If they kept a quiet life, than things would be different.